Boris Boogaloo

Currently:

Recording.

Latest Album: Life and Times released September 2008

Boris' 6th album, recorded at home, 9 tracks singer/songwriter/blues.

Previous albums:

• Looking Back
• Long Way Home
• Crazy Shadows
• Time - Remixes by DJ Dismay Rage
• SolowBlues

Who is Boris Boogaloo?

Boris has been playing and writing blues since the '60s. Musically it's one man and a guitar (and a harmonica) blues. It's difficult to say, with us not knowing much about blues, but its good.

Samantha Marais has covered a song of Boris's, Please Take Your Time, on her debut album 'The Peppermint Conspiracy' released 2008. It was a re-recording though it kept his original vocals. The track was then released as a single in the spring of 2008.

Reviews

bluesblues blog
Monday, November 20, 2006
Boris Boogaloo – Looking Back (Floppy Records).

The first of two 2006 releases, Looking Back is a showcase for Boris’ songs rather than his voice which is rather throaty for the opener, Crazy World Without You. Boris adds drums and electric guitars (not a common occurrence as those who have listened to a Boris album before will testify) for this love cheat themed blues which doesn’t have any fireworks but is a good song nevertheless. North City Blues is given some backing vocals which add to the atmosphere on a slow song that is not really a blues as such. There’s some added production on Losers Always Get It Wrong but some beefier bass would lift this into an excellent country rock tune. We have to wait until the middle of the album for the best track and the eerie Island Lady suits Boris’ nasal voice to a tee. They’re coming thick and fast now and Loving Days is another that suits Boris’ voice but this time he has got rid of the throaty voice – a slow, understated folksy offering. He keeps the huskier side of his voice for Merry-Go-Round and adds wailing harmonica. This reeks of sadness and is one to be built on for the future. The short album finishes with Cheating Girl which is country flecked and has a Bryan Ferry style vocal. There are a few styles in here and a number of songs that could go on to be picked up by other artists.

www.netrhythms.co.uk
Boris Boogaloo - Crazy Shadows (Floppy Records)

After taking 30 years to produce his first album Boris is on the verge of becoming prolific with this, his second album in as many years. The production has improved and gone is the shadowy figure of SolowBlues but have these changes been for the better?

The opener, Disintegrated Man, sounds as if it should be a blues song but what we get is a 60s throwback and if the effect was to have an angry young man feeling then, objective achieved. The 60s feeling pervades the album with songs such as Time and You'll Settle For Me sounding as if they've been in a time warp. Time is in a slow, progressive style: simple, effective and probably the best track on the album. However, You'll Settle For Me could have been a good R&B song if it had been speeded up just a little.

There are some blues tracks here and the harmonica on No Shame heralds the return of the Boris Boogaloo blues sound. Echoed vocals, guitar to the background - this is what Boris does best. Every Road I Take has something that we don't get too often on a Boogaloo track - a drum beat!! Boris's nasal vocal and a slight echo give this song a lift. There's some good harmonica work and his guitar finally gets an airing.

Of the other tracks, Please Take Your Time is a slow, folksy offering, pleasant but nothing else, Big Josie Takes A Trip offers much in the title but doesn't deliver although Ain't Got No Time does offer a jaunty finish to the set.

Boris has taken a lot less time to release this album and I'm not about to decry him for that. What he has to do is decide what direction he wants to take and go for it. Is he going to be a blues artist or is he going to be a songwriter for others? I believe that he could do either but for the sake of blues originality I hope that he follows the former.

BluesBlues Blog
Boris Boogaloo – Long Way Home (Floppy Records).

Boris Boogaloo makes a welcome return to the blues after the experimentations of his last album, Crazy Shadows. He opens with Brownie’s Blues, strangely enough a Brownie McGhee song, and he also takes on Sonny Terry’s role for good measure. His wispy vocals give the song an air of it being homemade and this feeling continues throughout the album. Muddy Waters classic Hootchie Cootchie Man (sic) is a well known and powerful blues but Boris turns in a less that powerful performance. Some people may think that this is weak but what we have here is the blues stripped bare. The title track is the first of five self-penned songs and is an acoustic blues with a world weary vocal. This shows an increased maturity in his songwriting and bodes well for the future. From there he goes on to turn in a very passable cover of Canned Heat’s World In A Jug.

Smilin’ Blues has that rare Boogaloo thing, a drum beat! This is electric, contemporary and urban although, on this occasion, Boris’s voice is a little weak for this style of song. This is the type of track that should be belted out. The chugging I Got A Feelin’ continues the vein of electric guitar and drums but it still needs that powerful voice and maybe a bit of distortion too. No Pain is the penultimate self-written song and it’s a return to the laconic acoustic style that is more suited to his vocal technique. The drums return on Driftin’ Blues, the last of his covers, and are joined by slide and grungy electric guitars. I hate to harp on about the voice but it just doesn’t suit these types of arrangement. It may have been better to tackle this acoustically but it is a fine song no matter what. There’s a full band set up again for the finale. She Knocks Me Out has Mr. Apple on drums, as he has on the others where drums have appeared, and signs that Boris’s vocal has managed to adjust to the electric style. All it needs is a little bit of grit.

Boris Boogaloo’s songwriting has come on in leaps and bounds and the improvement between this and his first album is quite marked. 

www.netrhythms.co.uk
Boris Boogaloo - SolowBlues (Floppy Records)

It has taken the mysterious Mr Boogaloo over 30 years to come to this point. This is a 7-track labour of love with 5 originals and opens with the traditional Big Road Blues. He sounds as if he's in an echo chamber here but it gives the effect of 20s or 30s authenticity and it's a good version to boot. You'll Settle For Me has a rough production but is strangely relaxing and has a live feeling to it. As I said before, the songs took 30 years to put down in one place and were recorded between 1971 and 2003 - Boris certainly doesn't rush things!

Musselburry Blues just has the sparse sound of guitar, vocal and harmonica and his veil slips a little when a Scottish accent starts to creep through the nasal vocal. Walkin' With God is acoustic and Boris brings in slide guitar - this is blues taken right back to the basics. The second and final cover is Leadbelly's Midnight Special and was certainly sung with the original in mind.

Prize for the weirdest title on the album goes to Livin' In A Hole In Space. This shows his prowess on harmonica again and his croaky voice shows all of its different tones. The album finishes with Bus Stop Blues and I know that you will all empathise as we've all had them. It's a very short instrumental track but it's very well played. I hope that it doesn't take another 30 years for the follow-up. www.netrhythms.co.uk

Coast 2

Livin' in a hole in space and Musselbury blues both included on Coast 2 Surfing DVD Magazine March 2004.

The Bee's Knees Zine Web Reviews #20
Solowblues - Boris Boogaloo (Floppy)

The only thing sadder than people who sing the blues are people who really listen to the blues. This sounds as though someone left a 4-track in a boxcar, and somehow this emerged. Play this at your next hobo party when things get dull.